Forcing Plants by EtKer 



J. E. Ho-witt, M.S.. Ontario Agricultural College, GuelpH 



THE forcing of plants by means of 

 ether and other anaesthetics is a 

 subject which has attracted the 

 attention of the commercial florist in 

 Franct^ and Germany for a good many 







Lilacs Unetherized and Etherized 



Bloom cut on December 26th 



years. It is only within the last year 

 or two, however, that the florists of 

 ^Canada and the United States have 

 had this method of forcing plants 

 brought to their notice by articles that 

 appeared in several American papers, 

 giving accounts of the experiments on 

 the use of ether in forcing plants, con- 

 ducted in the department of horticul- 

 ture at Cornell University. The re- 

 sults of these exf>eriments would seem 

 to indicate that ether might be prof- 

 itably employed by the commercial 

 florist to force many varieties of plants 

 ir.to bloom for the Christmas and 

 Easter trade, and . by gardeners who 

 have charge of private greenhouses. 

 A short account of the methods em- 

 ployed and of the results obtained 

 from the experiments conducted at 

 Ctrnell University should therefore be 

 of intereit to readers of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist. 



kinds of plants 



In the experiments carried on at 

 Cornell the following kinds of plants 

 were used: golden rod, golden glow, 

 aquilegia, Astilbe Japonica, lilacs, deut- 

 zia, Japanese quince, rhododendron, 

 rhubarb and asparagus. These plants 

 were secured in the fall just as soon 

 after cold weather commenced as pos- 

 sible. The herbaceous material, in- 

 cluding rhubarb and asparagus, was 

 placed in a cold frame and the roots 

 covered with earth. The shrubs, rho- 



dodendrons, and azaleas were placed 

 in a cool cellar as soon as they arrived 

 from the nursery, the packing of earth 

 around the roots being left intact. 

 When the plants were required for use, 

 they were brought out into a warmer" 

 room several hours before it was time 

 to begin the experiment, in order that 

 they might become comparatively dry 

 before being placed in the etherization 

 box. 



METHOD OF WORK 



The box in which the plants were 

 etherized was an air tight, galvanized 

 iron box made especially for the pur- 

 pose. The dimensions of the box were 

 four feet six inches long by two feet 

 three inches square on the end. Two 

 trays were made to set in the box, so 

 that three tiers of pots could be placed 

 in it if necessary. These trays were 

 made of heavy wire mesh. The wire 

 mesh was used in order that the ether 

 might permeate to every part of the 

 box. In order to have the box as air 

 tight as possible, the cover was so 

 made that it would come down over 

 the body of the box about five inches, 

 and rest on a thickly felted ridge. 

 When the box was closed the Hd was 

 firmly clamped down, two clamps be- 

 ing put on the front and the back of 



for every fifty-six gallons of air in box. 

 Later trials were made using fractions 

 of this amount, as one-half, one-quarter, 

 one-third, and so on. Various periods 

 of etherization were tried, as was the 

 effect of etherizing plants at different 

 temperatures. Most of the plants were 

 etherized before being potted, and when 

 potted plants were etherized, if the 

 earth in the pots appeared damp, a 

 layer of dry sand was placed over it, 

 as moisture absorbs ether and thus 

 prevents its action, .\fter the plants 

 were placed in the box, the required 

 amovmt of ether was fKjured on a ball 

 of felt, which was placed on the top 

 tray of the box, and the box shut and 

 clamped down as quickly as. possible. 

 On the box being opened, the plants 

 were left for several hours in order 

 that they might be thoroughly aired 

 before being potted and placed in the 

 forcing house. When this was done, 

 check plants of each variety were also 

 placed in the. forcing house, and both 

 the etherized and check plants were 

 given exactly the same treatment. 

 Observations were made on these plants 

 from day to day, and a record kept 

 as to date of first indications of growth, 

 date of opening of first leaf bud, date 

 of full leaf, date of opening of first 



Astilbe Japonica — Unetherized Plant on Left and Two Etherized Ones 



the box, and one on each end. With 

 these precautions it was possible to 

 get the box almost air tight. 



HOW TO USE THE ETHER 



The ether used in the experiments 

 was the ordinary commercial sulphuric 

 ether. In the first experiments the 

 amount of ether used was four ounces 



245 



flower bud, date of full flower, and 

 general health and vigor of plants. 



THE WORK IS VALUABLE 



The results oWtained from these ex- 

 periments, though variable, were on 

 the whole very pronounced. The ex- 

 periments with golden rod, asters, golden 

 glow and aquilegia gave only nega- 



